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Thursday, October 27, 2011

Haunted Mansion Mystery

In spirit of the upcoming holiday I thought I would share a quick Haunted Mansion memory. The Mansion is the only attraction I remember from my one trip to Disneyland as a kid. Its also the first attraction that Andrew and I obsessed over during our early Disney World trips. As you can imagine, I've been on it at least 200 times since my first trip in 2002. On every ride through, I love to look really hard for the little details I haven't seen before (and not like that stupid 'Hidden Mickey'...Boooooo). Its still amazing to me that I could draw the track layout and main scene details from memory, yet every time we ride it, I notice something new.

Me and the Grumpy Kids

more after the jump...

On a trip a couple of years ago, I happened to notice a painting hanging on a darkened wall right past the ballroom on the way to the attic. You can only make out the frame and a moment later its gone. It seemed really odd to me that imagineering would bother creating or hanging a painting that you couldn't see. I even looked all over the internet and found nothing. It was officially my Haunted Mansion Mystery and needed to be solved at any cost.

Ride after ride I tried really hard to see it, but to no avail. All of my best leaning and squinting proved naught. At best it looked like the banshee at the end of the graveyard, but it was just too hard to see. This went on for 2 years and countless mansion ride thru's. Finally, fustrated and defeated, I broke our #1 rule on an attraction:

NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY (I know...I hate me too)

So without further adieu...The Mystery Painting of the Haunted Mansion!